The National Professional Soccer League was a professional

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

league in the U.S. and Canada. It was originally called the American Indoor Soccer Association.

History

In November 1983, a

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

–based group called Soccer Leagues Unlimited unveiled a plan for an indoor league composed exclusively of American players. The group's president, Bob Lemieux (later AISA commissioner), announced that Kalamazoo, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Springfield, Illinois, were on board in what was he said was intended to be a sort of farm system, or developmental league, for the well established Major Indoor Soccer League. He added that groups in Indianapolis, Peoria, and Michigan cities, Saginaw and Flint; Kentucky cities, Lexington and Louisville; Ohio cities, Columbus Toledo and Dayton; Erie, PA; and Green Bay, Wisconsin, were all interested in joining the league. Officially starting on April 18, 1984, the American Indoor Soccer Association's charter franchises were

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

and Fort Wayne; however, a Fort Wayne team did not materialize until the league's third season. Three other teams,

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, Canton and Columbus, all joined the league before the first season began in November 1984. In 1990, the league changed its name to the National Professional Soccer League. Over its 17 seasons, a total of 30 franchises in 32 cities were part of the league at one time or another. During the summer of 2001, the league disbanded and the six surviving teams formed the second incarnation of the Major Indoor Soccer League. When the league began in 1984, game rules were almost identical compared to the larger and more popular Major Indoor Soccer League. Beginning with the 1988–89 season, the AISA changed their scoring system. Goals were now worth 1, 2, or 3 points depending upon distance or game situation. Basically, all non-power play goals scored from inside the yellow line were worth 2 points while non-powerplay goals from outside the yellow line (50 feet from the goal line) were worth 3 points. Any power play goal was worth 1 point, as was any goal scored during a penalty shootout. Before the 1994–1995 season, the three-point line was changed to a 45-foot arc. Eventually, power play goals were worth either two or three points, but penalty shootouts were still kept at one point.

Governance

Several NPSL teams had become and merged with the NISL, MASL, and

XSL In computing, the term Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) is used to refer to a family of languages used to transform and render XML documents (e.g., XSL is used to determine how to display a XML document as a webpage). Historically, the W3C XS ...

, and the WISL

Teams

Champions by season

Championships won

Commissioners

*Bob Lemieux 1984–1985 *

Joe Machnik Joe Machnik (born January 13, 1943) is an American soccer player, coach, referee, and broadcaster. He is highly regarded for his contributions to the sport in the U.S. On August 3, 2017, he was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame on the bu ...

1985–1988 *Steve M. Paxos 1988–2000 *Steve Ryan 2000–2001

References

External links

All-Time NPSL StandingsAll-Time NPSL AttendanceAll-Time NPSL ScoresAll-Time NPSL Coaching RecordsNPSL Yearly Awards

– American Soccer History Archives
All-Time AISA StandingsAll-Time AISA AttendanceAISA Coaching RecordsAll-Time AISA Scores
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Professional Soccer League (1984-2001) Defunct indoor soccer leagues in the United States Defunct soccer leagues in Canada 2001 disestablishments in Canada 2001 disestablishments in the United States 1984 establishments in the United States